“That would take weeks. There’re cliffs.”
“I’ll climb them.”
“She literally offered you a direct route to the fort, and access to inside it. Your life is not the only one at stake!”
Sol felt a fire in his head. “Everything I’ve done has been a sacrifice for my family, my people. You cannot accuse me of avoiding hardship. She’s a Quotidian princess. At best she’ll be an additional responsibility, and at worst, a distraction.”
Aizel sighed. “Her family is in danger, too. She’s opened a door for you. Don’t slam it closed without consideration.”
Aizel brushed past him and left the dark side room.
Sol clenched his fists, angry at his body for betraying him. When he’d first heard the princess’s plan, his heart soared. Perhaps it was hope, perhaps it was anticipation, perhaps it was longing. The feeling, however, was definitely a weakness.
“I guess I should go find him,” Meena’s voice came from the great hall. “At least before half the castle congratulates him on a wedding he knows nothing about.”
Sol backed away from the hidden window, shrinking into the darkness behind him.
He could not talk to her until he’d masked away the foreign feelings in his mind and body.
His knees bumped into the chair behind him. She didn’t know he was here, and she would be unlikely to search for him in this particular room.
He sat down. The cool stone wall of the castle was directly behind him, and he leaned his head back against it.
He would find a way. He had never backed down from a challenge and he would push against the obstacles in his path until he’d overcome them or been destroyed by them. He didn’t have any other option. His life had no purpose.
His peaceful solitude was interrupted a few moments later when the door quietly opened.
Sol sat up instantly.
A beam of light illuminated the very person he was trying to avoid.
“Sol!” Meena said loudly. Clearly she was just as surprised. She glanced toward the window to the great hall, then back at him. “What are you doing here?” she hissed.
Sol didn’t respond as the use of this particular room seemed obvious.
She approached the window, peering out into the hall below. “How long have you been here?”
“Long enough.”
She winced.
A quiet voice from the hall below filtered up to them. “You don’t intend to let her follow through with this, right?”
Sol stood and approached the window to see who was speaking. It appeared to be the crown prince.
He looked down at the princess standing quite close to him. She didn’t look like a princess. Not that he’d ever met a princess before. Her hair was long, dark, and straight. He didn’t remember the color of her eyes, and he couldn’t see them from the angle she was facing. He did remember the way her eyes crinkled in laughter over Celesta’s head, though.
She seemed like a normal woman. Just one who was loud enough to talk over an entire room full of hostile soldiers.
“Why are you here?” Sol asked.
“Shhhh.” She kept her eyes on her family below.
“You do realize she just stalled a continental war.” That was Aden, he and Erich were the only family members who remained seated.
“We can’t let her sail to Falqri with some Majis we’ve only just met.” Onric paced across the dais.
“I dislike your flippant use of the word Majis. It sounds as though you are insulting my wife.” Erich had his leg over one arm of his wide chair.
